The widow of Chinese poet and activist Liu Xiaobo was finally granted freedom on Tuesday. The 57-year-old had been under house arrest, despite facing no formal charges, since her husband was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for “his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.” While her release was celebrated, it is unlikely to herald any meaningful changes to Beijing’s treatment of dissidents or reliance on censorship.
Liu Xia’s only crime was loving Liu Xiaobo. He was a Chinese democracy advocate who was arrested and sentenced to 11 years for “inciting subversion of state power,” a charge widely used to punish dissidents. Among his offenses was drafting the Charter 08 manifesto calling for democracy, freedom of expression, and human rights. Upon its initial publication in 2008, more than 10,000 people signed the manifesto.
Xiaobo died in 2017 of liver cancer while in government custody.
Her freedom comes after years of advocacy from international organizations such as Amnesty International and PEN America as well as repeated requests from the United States and Germany. The most recent of these efforts included German Chancellor Angela Merkel raising the issue of Liu Xia’s freedom directly to Chinese President Xi Jinping when the two leaders met in Beijing earlier this year.
Despite the long-anticipated move, granting freedom to Liu Xiaobo’s widow doesn’t mean that China is any closer to embracing the democratic ideas or freedoms he advocated. China’s Internet remains behind a firewall, many religious activities remain suppressed, the press is censored, and vast areas inhabited by ethnic minorities are subject to invasive surveillance and lack access to rights among other human rights issues. Such assessments have consistently led NGOs, such as Freedom House, to rank China as “Not Free.”
Instead of showing movement towards freedom, Liu Xia’s release seems to be an olive branch offered by Beijing to Berlin as China seeks to build ties with Germany against the U.S. led trade war. Indeed, her release comes just one day after Merkel and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met in Berlin where Chinese leadership called for stronger ties with Germany.
While activists are right to celebrate Liu Xia’s freedom, her release should not be taken as an indicator of increasing freedom in China.
